Mediagazer: Web Companies Pay for Internet Fast Lane (Wall Street Journal)

10:25 AM ET, June 20, 2013

Top News:

Robert Picard / Guardian:

Digital news is finally starting to pay — Workable revenue models are emerging that make the future look brighter for publishers, a new report has found — Newspaper publishers beleaguered by digital developments for the past decade are starting to believe that business models to support digital journalism have emerged.

Discussion: Guardian, eMedia Vitals and Journalism.co.uk

Neil Thurman / Press Gazette: Reuters Institute survey reveals growing global popularity of live blogs

Leo Kelion / BBC:
Online news is becoming easier to sell, suggests study

Discussion: Newsworks

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

The New York Times is making ads for the future — but where's the present day money? — The Idea Lab of the New York Times has cranked out a series of innovative ad products. Here's some examples — and a look at why the flashy ads haven't lifted Times' ad sales out of a rut.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Ben Woods / The Next Web:

The New York Times plans to limit non-subscribers to just 3 articles per day on mobile — The New York Times has announced new plans to limit the amount of content non-subscribing mobile readers can access each day with a new “mobile meter”. — The company announced the plans on Thursday …

Discussion: The New York Times Company, paidContent, New York Times and Poynter

Mark Glaser / Mediashift:

Columbia J-School Looks to Shed ‘Old School’ Image with Curriculum Revamp — The slang term old school can have different connotations depending on its context. Going “old school” could mean doing something traditional and old-fashioned in a hip way. Or it could be someone who is stuck …

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Google, Amazon ask to shield sales in Apple ebook trial; judge says issues have “shifted” — Today is the grand finale of a big price-fixing clash between Apple and the Justice Department. On the eve of closing arguments, Apple's rivals have filed to cover sales figures while the judge suggested she has shifted her view of the case.

Discussion: PublishersWeekly.com and Washington Post

Andrew Albanese / PublishersWeekly.com:
For Apple, Price-Fixing Trial Closes With a Win

Discussion: Fortune

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Sree Sreenivasan to leave chief digital officer post at Columbia University — Sree Sreenivasan, the journalism professor and social-media evangelist, is leaving his full-time job at Columbia University, where he's taught for two decades, sources tell Capital.

Discussion: @columbiaspec, @fbonacci, @rubinafillion, @jasonchupick, @ryanbeckwith and @columuniversity

James Poniewozik / TIME:

Michael Hastings and Who Journalists Really Work For — I'm not the person to write a personal appreciation of Michael Hastings, the 33-year-old investigative journalist who died in a car crash in Los Angeles yesterday. I never met him; I don't know if he was a good guy, or a bad guy, or both in what ratio.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times, New York Magazine, The Informer, Hollywood Reporter, LAist, Business Insider, New Yorker, Hillman Foundation blogs, Slate, FishbowlDC and Boing Boing

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

AP Takes A Stake In Bambuser, The Real-Time Mobile Video Service That Helps Eyewitnesses Tell Their Stories — Bambuser, the upstart mobile video service that has carved out a name for itself as a crucial tool for eyewitnesses to record and transmit footage of major events …

Discussion: Beet.TV, Journalism.co.uk, Associated Press and The Next Web

Linda Kinstler / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Times of London, navigating audience with a strict paywall, retires its opinion Tumblr — When you bet on a strict, un-leaky paywall as The Times of London has, you're forced to get creative about how to put your work in front of new audiences — particularly if you're trying to influence their opinions.

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk and SocialTimes

Richard Verrier / Los Angeles Times:

‘SuperTicket’ for seeing movie at theater, home — Major studios and theater chains are experimenting with a ‘SuperTicket’ package in which they sell digital copies of films to moviegoers. — Warner Bros.' upcoming science fiction film “Pacific Rim&” is among the titles expected to be included …

New York Times:

Muffling of a Voice Provokes an Outcry in Greece — ATHENS — The poignant image made its way around the world: A blond violinist, tears streaming down her face as she played Elgar in a studio orchestra of Greek's state broadcaster to protest Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's unilateral decision …

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

Sen. Cantwell Criticizes Gannett/Belo Deal — Calls it effort to skirt local media ownership rules — Media consolidation critic Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Tuesday criticized Gannett over its proposal to buy Belo stations, including three in Washington state, to create a so-called Super Group.

Discussion: Street Fight and Gannett Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Netflix Sought Direct Connection at Cable Firms — Netflix Inc.'s impasse with cable operators was sparked by its request to put its own servers directly inside their data centers. — It was a proposition that makes big cable firms uncomfortable, executives and analysts say …

Discussion: Digits

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Wired Editor Michael Copeland Joins Andreessen Horowitz To Lead New ‘Content Strategy’ — Wired Senior Editor Michael Copeland is joining venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. We've confirmed with the VC firm that Copeland will be leading Andreessen's new ‘content strategy.’

Discussion: @mvc